Luffy's powerful fist struck Moya.
But something strange happened. It was as if Luffy's fist had hit a slippery object.
With a quick whoosh, it slid right across Moya's body and slammed into the wall behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust,
but it didn't hurt Moya in the slightest.
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami all found it hard to believe.
But they quickly recovered.
Moya was the captain of a ship, after all. It wasn't surprising that he had some special abilities. The members of the Moya Adventure Group, meanwhile, took it completely in stride and cheered Moya on from the sidelines.
Moya kept trading blows with Luffy, making his body and techniques work together more smoothly with every exchange.
Moya's strength, stamina, combat instincts, and techniques were all far inferior to Luffy's. He could only rely on the Slip-Slip Fruit to shrug off most of Luffy's physical attacks and keep him at bay.
After half an hour, neither of them had managed to get the better of the other. Both their Devil Fruits granted them immunity to blunt physical attacks.
But Moya was almost out of stamina, while Luffy was still full of energy.
It's time to end this fight.
Moya decided that although he couldn't beat Luffy head-on, he had plenty of ways to deal with him: seawater, sharp weapons, hypnosis.
Slip-Slip Fruit: Glazed Ground.
Moya planted one hand on the ground and silently called out the move. He never shouted the names of his techniques. Otherwise, he'd look as silly as Luffy.
The ground within a radius of several dozen meters around Moya changed.
It became as smooth as glass, reflecting the light.
Luffy was just about to charge forward when his feet slipped out from under him. He fell with a thud.
Moya seized his chance. He grabbed a bucket of water from one of the goons, slid over to Luffy, and dumped the seawater all over him.
Luffy immediately felt his strength drain away. His tongue lolled out, and his whole body went limp.
Moya put on the waterproof gloves he'd just bought, leisurely wrapped a piece of cloth around one of them, and slowly dunked it in a wooden bucket filled with seawater. When he pulled his hand out, seawater dripped from the cloth.
A seawater-soaked boxing glove. Ready.
Moya flashed a triumphant grin. Let's see if your Gomu Gomu no Mi can protect you from blunt blows this time.
"Take that, you cockroach! Let's see how tough you are, and how well you can shrug off blunt attacks! Eat my Face-Disfiguring Fist!"
Moya punched Luffy again and again, three times on the left, three times on the right, then kicked him in the butt. Finally, he landed a Rozan Sho Ryu Ha. And that was that.
Zoro stared at Luffy's swollen face, his brow furrowed. He despised Moya's underhanded trick of throwing water at him, and rushed over to protect Luffy.
But the moment Zoro stepped into the range of Moya's Glazed Ground, his foot slipped. Zoro was startled.
He reacted instantly, executing a backflip, drawing his sword, and stabbing it into the ground in one fluid motion!
But with a thud,
the sword tip slipped sideways, and he missed the ground! Zoro crashed down hard. It seemed his injuries were making him a little clumsy.
"Haha!"
Nami and the others burst out laughing. Zoro's face instantly turned as red as a monkey's. He tried to get up, but kept slipping and couldn't manage it.
Moya dispelled the Glazed Ground and walked over to Zoro. He held out a hand, helped him up, and made him an offer.
"Zoro, come join my crew. You know, I went all the way to Marine Branch 153 to rescue you. I never expected someone else to get you out first."
Zoro didn't answer, though Moya's rescue attempt had surprised him.
But Zoro was a man of his word. He'd agreed to become Luffy's crewmate, and had never considered going back on that promise.
"Rika's on my ship. She misses you! And I know about your dream. I also know where the World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawkeye—Dracule Mihawk—might show up soon!"
Moya continued trying to win him over with emotion and reason, resorting to every kind of scheme, straight or underhanded, to tempt and recruit him.
Zoro's heart sank. Rika had once fed him, and challenging Hawkeye was his lifelong dream. His thoughts descended into chaos.
Moya sighed inwardly. Even that wasn't enough to sway him. He'd underestimated Zoro's loyalty. He was about to keep trying to persuade him.
Just then, a faint pulse made Moya's heart skip a beat.
It felt as if he were being watched by a powerful predator, like a dragon. Was it Dragon?
Was this a warning?
Moya was shaken.
Thinking of the connection between the Revolutionary Army and Koushiro, Moya realized Zoro might have been chosen for Luffy's crew by Dragon and Koushiro—or perhaps it really was just a coincidence, a matter of fate.
Moya didn't dare make another move.
After a brief silence, Moya stopped paying attention to the equally silent Zoro and the unconscious Luffy, and began giving orders to recruit the Buggy Pirates.
"Nami, sorry for the trouble, but carefully collect every valuable thing in the Buggy Pirates!"
Moya gave Nami the order with a perfectly straight face.
Nami grinned from ear to ear. "Go loot the treasure" was probably her favorite order.
"Yes, Captain!" She immediately turned and ran off to hunt for treasure.
"Bring everyone from the Buggy Pirates up front!" Moya ordered his own crewmates.
He looked at the pirates, tied up in bundles: Captain Buggy, officer Beast Tamer Mohji, Richie the Lion, acrobat Cabaji, and a bunch of goons.
"Following the strong is human nature. Follow me, and you'll all be my crewmates from now on. Otherwise, I'll send you into the sea to kiss the fish and the Sea Kings!"
Moya looked at the pirates and spoke calmly.
The pirates instinctively turned to their captain, Buggy.
"Damn it! Since Captain Roger died, I, Buggy, would rather die and jump into the sea than submit to anyone!"
Buggy turned his face away, his expression defiant.
Moya couldn't be bothered to persuade him. He walked straight toward Buggy. In truth, he'd been coveting Buggy's memories from his time aboard the One Piece's ship all along. His attempt to recruit the others had just been for show.
Ignoring Buggy's struggles, Moya grabbed him by the head, took him back to the cabin, shut the door, and knocked him out.
Slip-Slip Fruit: Memory Sliding Technique.
Moya began browsing through Buggy's memories, watching one fragment after another of Buggy greedily eyeing treasure.
Moya couldn't help but smile wryly. How could someone who'd sailed aboard the One Piece's ship have so little ambition, be so greedy, and be so lazy and afraid of hardship?
A figure in a green robe stood silently among the clouds, watching the young man below. His expressionless face furrowed into a frown.
Suddenly, Moya's expression changed. This was... Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban teaching Shanks and Buggy how to train their Haki!
Incredible! Buggy had awakened his Haki, and he'd awakened both types.
But after spending too long in the East Blue, he'd lost his fighting spirit and physical conditioning. On top of that, he'd neglected his training, and his Haki had actually weakened.
Thinking about it, it seemed to make sense.
Moria was a typical example. After Kaido defeated him, he became obsessed with his crewmates. He devoted himself to developing the Shadow-Shadow Fruit to bring them back, neglecting his Haki training. Ten years later, his Haki had nearly vanished.
Buggy was in the same situation. That explained how some big shots could have adventured in the New World and yet not know how to use Haki.
Damn Buggy! He'd had such great resources, yet he'd been too afraid of hardship to properly learn the advanced methods for training Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki. Moya wanted to slap the old bastard into next week!
Moya was so frustrated he wanted to hit someone.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
Before you continue